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<\/a>\nThat\u2019s not its real name, of course, but I haven\u2019t come up with a proper one for it yet and I didn\u2019t want to call the post \u201cUntitled\u201d because this serendipitous culinary invention may well be one of the best dishes I have ever concocted. Why serendipitous? Here\u2019s how it came about:<\/p>\n
I was playing Socially Distanced Produce Aisle Roulette; that\u2019s where you stand six feet away from the person who got to the vegetable counter first and cool your heels as they pick over each Brussels sprout to select the winning candidates for their dinner. Truthfully, I don\u2019t mind playing this game because I know that it will be my turn soon enough and it gives me time to peruse the landscape for veggies that had not originally made it onto my shopping list.<\/p>\n
To its credit, my white-bread supermarket actually does carry some Latin American vegetables if you know where to look. They\u2019re stocked at eye level \u2013 if you\u2019re a Chihuahua. Check out the floor-level bins beneath the bananas and you\u2019ll see the platanos. Look under the sweet potatoes and lo and behold you\u2019ll find the boniatos. Appearances notwithstanding, these marvelous tubers aren\u2019t yams and are only remotely related to potatoes (same taxonomic order, Solanales) \u2013 and in some respects they\u2019re better than either. They\u2019re a little on the dry side, quite sweet, and taste more like chestnuts than any other starchy veg that purports to taste like chestnuts. Cook \u2019em the same way you\u2019d cook potatoes.<\/p>\n
Anyway, as I patiently waited for an opening, I began to mull over what I might whip up using a boniato. For some reason, my bespoke recipe for potato salad came to mind, but with Mexican overtones. But please note: this was not <\/em>destined to be \u201cMexican Potato Salad\u201d. First off, the whole idea of that sounds coy, gimmicky, and likely to disappoint; secondly, I was envisioning a dish served warm, unctuous, and as a main course, not a side.<\/p>\n Nonetheless, I decided that a swap-in for each ingredient in my recipe would be a worthwhile idea, so here\u2019s what I did: boniato for potatoes, Mexican chorizo for bacon, poblano pepper for red bell pepper, chopped white onion (very Mexican) for sweet Vidalia onion, cilantro for parsley, cambray onion (scallions would work, too) for celery (the crunchy contingent), and a garlicky, lemony aioli for the balsamic-vinegary, honey-mustardy mayonnaise that holds it all together \u2013 literally matching up ingredient for ingredient, but in different proportions of course.<\/p>\n As I said, in my humble opinion, it was amazing: sweet from the boniato, spicy from the chorizo, tangy from the aioli, yielding yet crunchy, lavish yet homespun, and incredibly delicious beyond even my most unbridled fantasies. Of course, the real test will be to make it again and see if I’m still blown away by it. Hey, I might even write down ingredient quantities next time! \ud83d\ude09 Because I didn\u2019t want to call the post \u201cUntitled\u201d. Read on…. Continue reading
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\nStay safe, be well, and eat whatever it takes. \u2764\ufe0f
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